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Encompassing records of business activities and public service, the John W. Smith Papers consist of correspondence, legal documents, financial documents and printed material. A significant portion of the papers is related to Smith's acquisition and location of land for himself and others. Land-related documents include applications and petitions for land, surveys, deeds, and lists of holdings. Land documents are also part of the records of estates administered by Smith and others. The most detailed estate record is that of Lysander Wells, which includes some of Wells' personal papers, such as his military records, correspondence, and financial documents. A portion of Smith's papers were probably acquired through his numerous government positions, and include notices and decrees from the Mexican state of Coahuila y Texas, and local records from government offices of the Republic of Texas. Individuals documented in the papers include Hezekiah Bissell, William H. Daingerfield, George M. Dolson, Charles P. Flack, Enoch Jones, Henry Wax Karnes, R.R. Royall, Juan Nepomuceno Seguin, John S. Simpson, D.C. Van Derlip, Cornelius Van Ness.

This Is A New Release Of The Original 1884 Edition.

Though marked as the record book of Charles Smith, this journal seems to have actually been kept by his daughter, Mary, while she was growing up in South Windham, Connecticut. The early journal entries relate the daily activities of her family, including her parents, Charles and Mary Abbe Smith, and brother, Guilford Smith. A July 1861 entry tells of the Battle of Bull Run. Later entries include newspaper clippings, recipes, and the ancestry of Geo. B. McClellan as copied from the Willimantic Journal. Mary Smith married P. Henry Woodward and resided in Hartford, Connecticut. The Smiths were all involved with Smith, Winchester & Company. Mary Smith Woodward was admitted to the partnership in 1884 and retired as a director in 1904.